Hoses, like for example fire hoses, are usually inspected after usage to, among other things, control the tightness of the hose. This is normally done by connecting one end of the hose to a so-called air valve and the other end to a liquid pump (usually a water pump) that can fill the hose with pressurised fluid (e.g. water). The air inside the hose can then abscond through the air valve which let air and gas through but not water.
Usually the hose is wound-up in a screw line form on a drum with a preferably vertically oriented axis so that the winding-up can take place within a relatively small space. The whole wound-up hose is filled with pressurised fluid, and thereafter the liquid filled hose can be inspected.
The hose can burst during pressurisation, at which the operator risks being injured during visual inspection. As the liquid pressure can be very high, the operator can be injured by leaking jets. It is well known to encapsulate the pressurised winding of the hose with a screen or similar protection device which protects the operator at inspection of the hose.
The European patent EP 0677 728 shows, for example, a solution where a transparent protective screen fully encapsulates the drum on which the hose is wound-up to ease visual inspection while providing a certain protection. The screen is further provided with openable hatches which make it possible for the operator to get to the pressurised hose through the screen, to for example, mark possible holes in the hose so that a later repairing can take place. In this known case, the drum is held still under pressurisation due to the other end of the hose being connected to a stationary water supply connection. Thus the operator must move around the drum during visual inspection.
In other known cases, like for example in the Swedish patent SE 528 582, the pressurised, and on the drum wound-up hose, is connected to the water pump via a pipe swivel connection that allows a free rotation of the drum while the hose is maintained pressurised. In that manner, the operator can remain in a fixed operator position at the visual inspection, and the protective barrier between the operator and the drum can have a lesser extent in the drums circumference direction. According to the Swedish patent SE 528 582, the protective barrier can with benefit be designed like a removable screen that can be removed if needed or set in an optional position relative to the construction.